Comparatively Speaking

So, how does Especially For Youth (EFY) in Illinois compare to EFY in Hawaii?  I wonder if you could guess...

Last day of EFY in Hawaii:

Last day of EFY in Illinois:

Needless to say, Hawaii is Cinderella's top choice.  But it's not really Illinois's fault.  Cinderella woke up on the third day of EFY with a sore throat.  That night, she had a headache.  The next morning, she awoke not feeling well, and didn't eat much.  During the middle of the afternoon activities, she started getting chills and felt really weak.  She found a health counselor, and her fever was 103.5.  That's when they called me.  But, she was four hours away, so I couldn't get to her until the middle of the night.  So, those nice counselors drugged her up and moved her to her own room where she slept the night.  I left in the morning to go pick her up.

After I arrived, we found an urgent care.  Since her fever was still 102, and she had multiple symptoms, they made her wear a mask while she waited (2 hours!!) to see the doctor.  Turns out, she had the worst case of strep our family has ever seen.  It took about six days for her to feel well again.  Poor thing.  

She really loved all of the activities she went to at EFY, until she started feeling lousy.  She loved her counselors, and met some nice kids.  But, it wasn't really her best week. She lived., and she still wants to go next year, so I suppose it wasn't too traumatic for her.  We're just glad she only had strep and was four hours away instead of across the ocean!

Nauvoo

Last week, we dropped Cinderella and her friend off in Normal, Illinois for EFY.  The twins and King and I kept heading down the road and ended up in Nauvoo.  Which is great, since that was our plan.  We first visited Carthage Jail.  There was a special spirit there, and we enjoyed our visit.  

We didn't have a lot of time when we arrived, but we drove around and then visited the Blacksmith Shop.  We had a yummy dinner at a bakery and then saw a fun variety show.

That evening we walked around the beautiful Nauvoo Temple.

The next day we didn't have a lot of time, but we made the most of what time we had.  We began early with a carriage ride and a wagon ride.  We learned a lot and the weather was beautiful.  Actually, so beautiful that the mayflies were out in droves.  Ick.  I think Snow White loved getting to meet Rod and Rick, the horses.  

We saw a few more historic homes and places, The Brickyard, The Browning Home and Gunsmith Shop, The Cultural Hall, The John Taylor Home, and the Scovil Bakery.  Then we saw another show, and were on our way home.  It was a quick trip, but a great one.  

The Bike Blues

For Sleeping Beauty and Snow White's birthday, we almost got them bikes. But, it was the middle of winter, and who wants a bike when it's too cold to ride it?  So, we opted for more practical gifts and figured they could live with their slightly too small bikes another year.

And then summer came.  And they started riding their bikes to the pool. And then they started dropping hints...

"You know, Mom, our bikes came with training wheels.  Training wheels.  Do you realize what that means?  They are TINY."

"If it weren't so hot, I think I would walk instead of ride my bike to the pool.  I might get there faster walking anyway, my bike is so tiny and slow."

"I'm pretty sure I'm too old to have flowers and sparkles on my bike."

"It's so embarrassing when we ride up to the pool on our bikes and kids half as tall as we are jump off their bikes that are way bigger than ours."

Being a mother who likes to find ways to build character in her children, these hints didn't bother me all that much.  I mean, at least they have bikes.  And a pool to swim in.  Right?  But then I looked out the window at them riding one day and noticed that their knees nearly touched their chins when they peddled. And I realized that not only were their bikes incredibly tiny and probably embarrassing to them, they probably weren't all that safe or efficient, either.  So, I determined to find them affordable bikes.

We scoured the stores for bikes that were inexpensive, yet functional.  The heart of the matter is, these bikes need to make it to the pool and back, and on an occasional bike trail ride, but don't need to be durable enough to make it off-road or on a ten-mile ride or anything.  Just run-of-the-mill bikes.  We couldn't find any used ones, but, thankfully, they both found and liked bikes at the bottom of the price range I gave them. All in all, it was a fairly painless process.

That is, until it was time for the three of us to put them in the back of our van.  Let's just say, I hope no one robbed the store we were at last night, because if anyone reviews the surveillance videos of the parking lot between eight and nine p.m., there's a chance the hilarity could go viral.  Sheesh.    

April and May: A Tale of Whoa

There once was a valiant King who ruled humbly and justly over his little kingdom.  Not only was he kind, generous, smart and handsome, he also had skills.  Bathroom remodeling skills.  And, despite his occasional protestations ("What was I thinking to try this?!  I have no idea what I am doing!  I am a college professor, not a handyman!") he was competent, a perfectionist, and had wonderful results.

One morning, just after completion of the castle's first bathroom remodel, King woke up with a terrible pain in one hand.  "Whoa," he said, "that smarts."  And then he ignored it for a few days, continuing on at a particularly frantic pace in his work and church responsibilities.  He hired a nice boy from a neighboring castle to begin helping with the demo of the castle's Master bathroom, and a local tradesman to install the tile in said bathroom, all the while ignoring his pain in his left hand, and over-using his right hand.

Finally, the Queen had seen enough, and banished the King from the castle unless he saw a doctor.  After a trip to not one, but three doctors, he finally was referred to a hand specialist who said, "Whoa, you must stop activity all together if you ever want to get better."  Meaning that his hand muscles were strained and he must not do much work.  And certainly not any twisting and turning and lifting and pulling.  Which put a little bit of a rain cloud over the tiny kingdom and it's bathroom remodel.

The days ambled by.  The King tried really, really hard to rest.  But, he had a day job.  And it involved typing.  So, he did use his hands very sparingly, when absolutely necessary, but rested as much as he could.    He even had "fun" with the "speak to type" software on the computer..."No, not that!  I said...  Ugh.  Backspace, backspace, backspace..."  When he next visited the therapist, the kind man said, "Whoa, I expected those hands to be much better by now.  We must be more aggressive."  And began more strenuous therapy and a regimen at home that left the castle's occupants wondering if they were smelling things, or was Bengay really on the menu for the evening?

In the meantime, the Queen had started taking a new medication to try to help her chronic migraines.  "Whoa," she would say some mornings, "is that wall moving, or is it just me?"  Although that feeling went away after a couple of weeks, it still has not done anything to change the frequency or intensity of her migraine (/ pain / nausea / dizziness / fatigue / whatever yucky word best describes the worst symptom of her chronic condition that day / headaches) much at all.  Which means that she wasn't cooking very many meals, nor doing very many dishes or housecleaning, or much more than the bare minimum of survival.  

Gratefully, Queen K, a heroine from the far-away land of Texas, had scheduled a trip to visit for the Queen's birthday.  Being truly aware of the Queen's condition, as well as the new development in King's activity level, she fully expected a dirty house and worn out parents, and busy school girls to greet her.  But, still, she was surprised, and said, "Whoa!!" when she saw the princesses bedrooms, and got right to work.  She scrubbed and organized and cooked and worked magic (I am quite sure there was a Fairy Godmother involved, or perhaps some singing squirrels) and left the castle sparkling and nine meals in the freezer.   And even had a little bit of fun, too.

Finally, the three princesses finished up the busy end of the school year, and the wicked tired Queen set up a chore chart and schedule that made even the original Cinderella look like a lazy party girl.  And, while the princesses balked, "Whoa!!!!" when they saw their duties, they were fairly cooperative and definitely helpful in keeping the castle from being taken to the dump and the occupants from starving to death.  And then came June.  Which I suppose is another story, but not one that is much different (except, gratefully, some men from neighboring castles came and helped the Master Bathroom become workable, if not quite all the way beautiful, which makes a big differnce) from April and May, so we will end our story here.

And now, the morals of this brief tale of whoa:
1.  If you like to remodel bathrooms, but don't do it too often, you may get injured, thereby giving all saved funds by being a do-it-yourselfer to the kind physical therapist instead.
2.  If one adult in the house is pathetic (not intentionally, and through no fault or wish of her own) it makes for a very rocky household if the other adult cannot do dishes, cook food, mow lawns, or pull weeds.  We're talking Seven Dwarf cottage before Snow White got there rocky.  
3.  We need a maid.
4.  And a cook.
5.  And possibly a gardener, a butler, and a chauffeur.
6.  And definitely a long winter's nap.
7.  Or something.